


Galaxies Between Us

by type_here



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Rating May Change, Rating is not a constant, Rating totally changes, See each works for details
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-10-06
Packaged: 2018-10-19 01:14:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 7,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10629105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/type_here/pseuds/type_here
Summary: A collection of short stories set in the Juno Steel universe





	1. All that Glitters

In which a proposition is made    
(Rated G ) 

***

Juno looked at the box Peter was holding between the two of them. It was such an innocent thing, right? Yet, he didn’t know what to think or to say to this. It was such a surprise. After all that happened…

  
Of course, of course he was ecstatic that Peter would think of him in such a light that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with the grumpy lady that Juno was. Yet he couldn’t help the feeling that, despite the promises, nothing like this in his life could last.  They say diamonds are eternal, but they still get lost and lose their shine.  The other shoe would always drop.   


Peter was a thief, one who stole all matters of glittery things and shiny things, only to sell them off again. He was well aware that everything that glitters isn’t gold and you would have to be a fool not to look closer.  He knew full well the value of things and people.  He knew full well the value of his own liberty.  To think that he thought Juno valuable enough to not only stay around on Mars, or at the very least, come back as often as he could, but to tie the knot too, well…   


Well, it was overwhelming.   


He looked at the ring nestled in its tiny silk covered box. It was a fairly simple thing and it was beautiful. He had to chuckle though; steel and… Gold? Rose gold. Steel and Rose. 

Peter grinned at him.   


“You’re a sentimental idiot, you know that?”   


“Well, I did once said I was a fool for falling in love with you. I thought you would enjoy this particular little detail. So? What do you say about this?”   


Juno took a deep breath, rubbing at the back of his neck with a hand. He noticed the two small gemstone, inlaid in the gold part of the ring. The light was hitting them just right for them to sparkle. He didn’t know what to say.   


All that glitter isn’t gold but he could believe in this, could he? So he nodded. He nodded and laughed a disbelieving laugh as he brushed off a stupid stray tear that decided to show up uninvited. Goddammit Peter, why you have to make him feel so much? He had no words, but at least Peter understood, at least he could see the glint in Juno’s eyes.   
It’s only when the ring was on his finger that he noticed the extra little detail. The rose gold band was nestled between the two steel ones, protecting from being bend out of shape if some fight were to happen and Juno needed to throw a punch.   


Just like… Ah.   


Just like Peter trusted Juno to protect his real name.   


Ah. All that glitter isn’t gold, he knew the road ahead would be bumpy, if only by virtue that he was himself. But Peter cared and trusted him, and he now knew he could trust this.


	2. Beneath Another Sky

In which a letter is sent

(Rated G )

***

 

  
Dear Juno,   
  
The Outer Rim is quite lovely at this time of the year. I wish you were here with me to see it. Just so you could look up to the sky and see all the beauty of its galaxies and how many wishes burn on the back of shooting stars.  I am on some tiny planet named Pyrya.  Its sky is filled with them, countless raining upon this barren land... You should look it up sometimes, it’s quite stunning.   
  
Still, I do not understand how we can hear the whispers of the universe, see and travel countless galaxies and yet how many stays in the shadows, breaking their backs only to achieve what seems so little in the big scheme of things. You left me behind that night to stay on Mars, but I cannot hold it against you. You stay in Hyperion City and do what you think is good and I cannot deny you this. I just...   
  
I told you once I was always the one disappearing, never the one left behind. So there is that. I am still angry somewhat for all this, for how a fool I was and yet here I am, thousands of light years away, wishing upon a star that our paths meet again.  I am still the fool you left behind.  Always your fool to leave behind I guess.   
  
I just wish you were here with me.  All the precious things in the world are not as precious as you.  I wish I could steal you away from this place you live in, but…  You are having none of that, are you?  I wish you could see yourself the way I see you.  I wish I could make you understand just how much you’ve come to mean to me.  I never fell so hard for anyone before.   
      
Juno, please for me, look up to the sky and dream. While wishes burn on the back of shooting stars, if you dream big enough and work on those dreams long enough, you’ll achieve what seems so big, what seems so far and so distant, like countless galaxies. I did it and I know you can. Everything is so much bigger than us and I just wish you could be here for me to share it with you.  I wish you were there so I could keep the nightmares at bay and whisper to you the sweetest dreams in the dead of night.   
  
Look up to the sky and see that at the break of dawn, when everything is quiet yet never silent, not truly, you might be lonely but you are not alone. Beneath another sky, under the lights of a thousand shooting stars, maybe another made a wish. Beneath another sky, while wishes burn on the back of shooting stars, maybe another dream. Maybe I’m still with you in your dreams, beneath the Martian skies, so far away from here. I hope I am.  I miss you so much.   
  
Your better half.


	3. Kill The Lights

In which there was a rough day  
(Rated G)

  
***

  
Juno groaned and buried himself deeper into the blankets. He didn’t want anything to do with today.

At all.

His head was pounding and for once it was only in parts because of a bender. And of course....

“Juno? Why the room is so dark? It’s the middle of the day and you-”

Aaaaaaaaugh. The light was not helping the headache or anything else for that matter and if he could, Juno would have buried in the blankets even deeper. Hell, he would bury up in the goddamn mattress if he could. At least he had to thank God for small favors; it wasn’t Rita’s shrill voice inquiring about his health.

“Just kill off the lights, would you? My head is...” Juno groaned again.

He felt the mattress dip down a little beside him. He felt Peter’s hand against his brow, a lingering touch that stayed there for barely seconds.

“Well, at least you don’t seem to run a fever.”

“Just shut up, you’re not helping right now.”

“Want to lay on your stomach for a moment, darling?”

Juno harrumphed at this. Still he rolled slightly and for his trouble was rewarded with long fingers kneading at his neck and shoulders. He moaned, half muffled by the pillow but still loud enough for Peter to pick up.

“Does it helps a little?”

Juno only replied by way of a moan. It did help, it was great to get some relief from the tension. Juno was hoping it would last a long while before Peter decided to stop. It was strange to him how much he realized he missed Peter’s touch only when he was receiving it again.

Peter smiled. It was a nice thing to see Juno relax like this. He gave him a kiss where the neck and shoulder and chuckled at Juno’s shuddery reaction. He made a move to stand up and leave the room. Juno curled up, like some prickly stray cat who just found that being comfy was a thing. Peter shook his head, his grin still firmly in place. He went back to the bed and laid down. As soon as he wrap an arm around Juno’s waist, his dearest detective curled up against him.

That’s when he realized what was going on.

“You want to talk about it?” he asked.

Juno shook his head while Peter rubbed small circles against his back.

“You did drink plenty of water before going to bed, didn’t you?”

Juno rolled his eyes at this. He rolled over to face Peter. “Yeah, yeah. I… I kinda know how to take care of myself sometimes?” he mumbled against his chest.

“Just making sure, just making sure! Well then...”

Silence settled down between the two of them. Juno was dozing on and off, enjoying Peter’s warmth and the relative quietness. It was nice. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad if Peter was around during the hard times. Maybe things could get better. Who knew? For now though, it was pretty nice.


	4. Unexpected Delivery

In which a strange package is received

(Rated G)

***

 

Nureyev glared at the small package. No return address, no name, not even his own. Well, that last one was quite a relief to be honest. It was a thing to receive an untraceable package, it was another to have people trace it back to you because it had your name on it.

Still, he had no idea what was going on with this thing on his desk and it was irking him. For all he knew it could be a cleverly disguised bomb or something poisoned. It was packaged in brown paper, was fairly flat and rectangular. The content of the box rattled when shaken but seem to otherwise make no other noise.

Peter sighed. This whole thing was rather disconcerting. After all, he made dissappearing an art and yet someone found him. At least, if anything was to happen, it would have happened by now. Beside a booby trapped package had too much chance to get in the wrong hands unless the person giving it was close enough to deliver it by hand. If that was the case, they would be pretty easy to track.

So, with all of that Peter deemed that was probably safe to open the package. He was ninety five percent sure it wouldn’t literally blow up in his face. Still, he was careful with his plasma knife, gingerly lifting the edge of the wrapping paper and delicately opening a corner of the box.

To say the least, the content of the box left him puzzled. In fact the puzzle was as metaphorical as it was literal. He shook the puzzle pieces out of the box, wondering what the hell this was all about.

Well, that was definitely interesting! At least it would be one easy puzzle to solve and perhaps it would give him an hint as to who the mysterious sender was. It wasn't a big puzzle, it was even just half of one really. It was half of a picture of a city on Mars he’d never thought he’d see again.

It was still puzzling him. Why would someone send him that? Was Juno okay? Was it some convoluted death threat toward the detective if he didn’t show up back on Mars?

He had his reply two days later, in the form of another unexpected delivery. It was an unmarked letter this time and it read.

“ Hey.

You know you’re hard to track right? I guess this was your goal. I hope this letter gets to you before the other package. I forgot to send them together and yeah… Mail is not the most reliable thing on a good day.

I guess, what I mean to say is that I want to apologise. Shouldn’t have walked out on you like this. It was stupid and bad of me. So I guess, if you ever find yourself on my side of Mars again, well I got the other half of that puzzle you got. Just like you once wrote you were my better half.

Miss you.”


	5. Imperfections

In which nobody is really broken.

(Rated G )

***

 

 

You been antsy all day, looking like you know a sandstorm that would destroy everything is coming.  You don't want to come out of your bedroom. The only thing I hear you say about today was that it is an anniversary of sorts, a sad one by the look of it.  It takes everything to get you to open the door and let me in.     
  
I tell you there is something I want to show you.  It isn't a lie. I picked something up earlier today. You let me set up some things and once I am done the room is dimly lit, street light seeping through the blinds and mixing with light from a few flickering candles.  Anything harsher and it would feel too much like an interrogation room.   
  
You look like a wounded animal, curled inward as if the weight of the world is upon your shoulders.  In instants like this, I know you need a guiding hand, someone to take care of you.     
  
“Juno?”   
  
You look at me, taking in a sharp breath.  You are lost in your thoughts again, aren’t you? I sit beside you and you lean closer, yet you seem so far away from me.  The space between us seem so little and yet so big.  I wish you could let me get closer.  I can see you wonder about the small jar I produce.    
  
Gold paint.   
  
I dip my finger in it and trail it along one of your scars, leaving a trail of gold behind.  You look at it, then look at me.  I can see the questions in your eyes.  I won’t reply to you yet.  Instead I paint a couple more.   
  
You take another sharp breath.  I stop for a moment while you stare at the painted scar.    
  
“Thirty years ago.” You say.   
  
“Hmm?”   
  
“That scar.  I…  Thirty years ago today.  I tried to save my brother from being killed.  It didn’t work.”  you say by way of explanation for everything you felt today.   
  
I must admit I’m surprised you even opened up in the first place.  So I paint another scar and you tell me another story.  By the end of the evening you are covered in gold and I know about you as much as you know about me.  I can still see that you wonder what this was all about.   
  
“Kintsugi.”   
  
“What?”  you ask.  I shake my head, let me finish.   I chuckle then smile and look up from your painted arms to your eyes.   
  
“Being more beautiful for being broken.  What you see as imperfections and failures,  I see it as strengths.  If only because you got through all this and still strive.  I know words are not gonna change years of… of everything you’ve been through but I hope you can now see what I see, if only a little. ”     
  
You look at your arms and you smile a little.  I smile back and kiss you.  This is good enough for me, just look how  you shine tonight.


	6. Dust

In which thoughts are howling.

(Rated T: Mention of alcohol and abuse)

  
***

 

It’s one of those days, where the world seems to be out to get you and you know you should fight it with all your might but… Augh. It’s too much work.

Nothing seems to work out, not hot coffee nor cold shower, not even the ample supply of alcohol Juno keeps at hand both at work and at home. Everything seems to slowly turn grey and tasteless. Juno is restless and tired all at once and it puts him on edge.

Surely being out there and picking up fights would feel better but even then this seems like too much for him today. It’s not like he could even go out either way, even if he wanted to; the entire city was under lockdown due to a dust storm of epic proportion. It is the biggest one of the century, so the streams say. Even the priciest, most robust shields over Uptown had trouble keeping up. Midtown, where he was, was battered by wind and sand.

He doesn't even want to think about the state of Oldtown. Maybe it’s a good thing to just have all those memories sandblasted. Dust to dust and all that jazz. The eddies of rust-coloured sand and the howling winds are fitting his mood just fine though. So he sits there, bottle in hand and wishing for the end of the world.

It is a thing though, isn’t it? Just gonna go back to that dusty ground and whatever you did in your life will be forgotten. Well, unless you’re a bigwig, someone important enough to buy your way into fame.

He had to chuckle at this, because of course money is the thing that rules the world. You’d think it would have changed somehow. But nope, having no creds will lead you nowhere fast and nothing shows it more than this damned city.

He tanks down a quarter of the bottle and eyes the streams from Oldtown. How many cars ended up in that pileup? How many died and how many more ended up in tiny places, piled up with all their meagre belongings in a lousy plastic bag, having nowhere else to go? How many kids are separated from their parents only to be sold away to some Uptown sicko to be used as little more than slaves?

Juno feels sick at the thought. He knows full well how abuse is common in Oldtown and how he been one of the few who could consider themselves lucky. He feels the bile rise up in his throat. He closes the stream and watches the eddies of rust-coloured sand. They twirl, twist and dance just outside his window. In the relative quietness of a locked-down city, the howling of the wind feels like a siren song.

He spares a thought for Peter, still regretting what he did to him.

Maybe it would be a good thing to walk out in the storm and get sandblasted away. Dust to dust and all that jazz.

Or maybe he could sleep. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.


	7. A Moonlit Day

In which a vacation is taken

(Rated G)

 

 ****

 

How Juno let Peter talk him into a weeklong vacation, he doesn’t know.   Not only that but how he let Peter talk him into a vacation completely away from Mars is a secret for the ages.  How he let Peter pick him clothes appropriate for the weather of the planet they are going to?  Well he doesn't let him, he really doesn't want for Peter to pick him clothes again, but the thief insisted and Juno just can’t say no to that look.  
  
Juno still thinks the whole thing is a waste of time as they reach the spaceport.  He is antsy for the whole ride on the shuttle, they are in a tin can lost in the middle of the void for Christ’s sake.  There’s an outrageous collection of outrageously priced tiny alcohol bottles between them by the time they lend and Juno is barely any less of a mess for it.  
  
But here they are, on this tiny, absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous resort planet. Juno never saw anything like this.  It is honestly stuff of dreams Juno never expected to get in his lifetime.  It is the things he dreamed about after being knocked out by one too many of Miasma’s experiment.  It’s the thing he dreamed about in the days after he left Peter behind.  
  
But this was then, this is now.  
  
He watches Peter as he yawns and slowly but surely wakes up.  
  
  
“Hey.” he whispers,  not wanting to break the silence just yet.  The golden glow seeping through the blinds makes Peter look angelic.  Good thing Juno knows better.  
  
“Morning darling.  I take it you slept well?” Peter mumbles as he stretches like a cat,  languid and barely awake.  Juno takes a deep breath, taking in the sight and wanting to tousle Peter’s hair even more, among other things.  
  
“Got plans today?”  
  
“Just one.  However, it seems like you have one of your own,  Care to share it?”     
  
Juno smiles, running a hand down Peter’s arm.  
  
“Oh, you know exactly what plan I got.”  
  
“It may be so but it’s unusual for you to be so forward about it.”  Peter mentions after a rather pleasurable shiver.  
  
“Well, what can I say, this whole thing is nice, is all. Just…”  
  
Peter chuckles.  
  
“I understand what you mean.  You don’t owe me anything for it though.  I do enjoy just seeing you happy like this. Come here.”   
  
Well, let’s just say that the rest of the morning is really, really nice.   It’s close to dinnertime when Peter emerges from the shower, shortly after Juno does the same.  
  
“Love, you should hurry up.  I got reservations for dinner and something I really want to show you.”  
  
“Oh really?  What’s that?”   
  
“Well now detective, it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you.”  
  
Juno grumps, more for show than anything else, and heads toward the closet.  “Something fancy?”   
  
“Not more so than usual, my dear.  I kept the fancier things for later on.”   
  
It is a nice dinner date.  It’s not so late in the day that the place is crowded, but you can still hear the hush of pleasant conversation among couples and friends.  The sky just outside the window is cloudless and the air is warm.  The food and the conversation are great.  It’s the best thing Juno had in years, honestly.   
  
Then he sees it:  hanging in the sky, in a perfect line over the horizon the ten moons of this little resort planet.  Peter grins as he notices what Juno is suddenly paying attention to.  
  
“ They say such a show happens only once every couple of hundred years.  We are lucky to see this in our time Juno.”  
  
Juno had to laugh at this.  “ You totally brought me here just for that didn’t you?”  
  
“Well, it was a rather influential factor, indeed, albeit not the only one.  Are you enjoying yourself?” Peter asked   
  
At least he looks somewhat sheepish about the whole thing.  Mostly smug, but still a bit sheepish.  
  
“Yeah, it’s nice.”  Juno smiles.    
  
“Glad to hear it.” 


	8. Always

In which, there's always fear and there's always hope.

(Rated T Mention of alcohol and abuse.)

 

***

 

It’s always his fault.  Everything is always his fault.  It’s what he always been told.  
  
It starts at a young age really, at too young an age.   
  
At first, it’s his mother blaming him.  He’s a mistake, a disgrace a reminder of everything that ever went wrong with her life and how everything is never gonna be right ever again.  It gets worse when his brother is born.  She hits the bottle, she hits him, she tries to hit his brother but he tries to stop her.  It’s not enough.  He’s not vigilant enough and she kills him.   It’s his fault.  It breaks his heart but he fights back and he hides and somehow he pulls through.   
  
Then there are his teachers.  They don’t notice the bruises or the cuts or if they do notice they don’t care.  It’s dime a dozen in Oldtown.  They blame Juno for falling asleep at his desk though, for letting his grades go down and down while he keeps his guard up.  He tries so hard because it’s his own damn fault.  He somehow pulls through and ends up at the Academy.   
  
Ah, the Academy and even the police force when he first started. Look at the scrawny kid, how did he even got in?  They spend day in day out blaming him for everything and nothing all at once, the scrappy scapegoat.  It’s his fault if he couldn’t take care of himself good enough to fit in.    He learnt how to fight better and faster than any of those lugs and for all the black eyes he gets, he gives twice as much.   
  
Then there’s his downfall. A stint gone wrong and he kills someone.  It was an accident, but…  It was his own damn fault.  Always his fault.  So he walks away.     
  
So many cases and so many deaths and he crawls deeper into a bottle.   
  
And then there’s Peter Nureyev, the thief who stole his heart. There’s this promise he made once, while they were moments away from dying.  He promised he would be coming back for Juno.  He promised he wouldn’t disappear.   
  
Against all odds, he comes back.   
  
Then he keeps coming back.  Even months after Juno had left him, he comes back.   
  
Juno is amazed by this little fact, he never understood why he even came back after all this time.  Juno is nothing, he is a mistake, he is not enough for Peter to stick around, he is-   
  
“Juno.  Thank you for this, it was wonderful.”   
  
Juno blinks, his thoughts interrupted by Peter, who brings their breakfast plates to the sink.   
  
“There’s noth-”   
  
“Juno, we spoke about this, didn’t we?  I love when you do things for me.  I love to let you know even if it’s just with a thank you.”   
  
Juno shakes his head, he has nothing to reply to this.  So he smiles, nods and even chuckles.     
  
He can take this, he can believe that Peter is genuine right now.  He can believe that Peter will always be back, no matter how long it takes.  He can believe that Peter will always be genuine when he tells him those things, those praises.   
  
At least, he can always trust that, even when he can’t trust himself. 


	9. Visitor Badge

In which there's a friendly argument.

(Rated G)

 

***

 

“You forged them.”  For Juno, it wasn’t even a question, of course, Peter forged them.   
  
“Yes, and you have to admit you only say that because you know me,  not because you would  have noticed a detail off about those badges.”  
  
Juno sighed and reluctantly nodded.  
  
“It’s not so much the doing it or not that bothers me.  It’s not the how either, to be honest.  It’s why, why would you do this Nureyev?”   
  
“My dear detective, one has many reasons to want to go through certain doors, to go wherever he pleases. Seeking pieces of information, greeting a friend-”  
  
“Stealing art and jewellery, making a getaway...” Juno added.  
  
“Well yes, that too darling but I swear it’s nothing of the sort today.  Beside those are pretty normal visitor badges!  Anyone could get them!”   
  
Juno just rolled his eyes and smirked.  
  
“Sure, sure.  You didn’t trick out the badges.  You’re definitely gonna stay put and not get your sticky fingers all over the goddamn place.  I totally believe you.”    
  
Peter grinned.  “O ye of little faith, why are you so afraid of this?”    
  
“Because I know you and I don’t want to get in trouble because of this whole thing of yours.  I still got some moral standards.”  
  
“And yet-”  
  
Peter was interrupted by a well-placed jab in the ribs from Juno.  He glanced at the offending appendage and the detective it belonged to with a look of mocked outrage.  He was half tempted to just tickle the hell out of Juno in retaliation and the other half was tempted to just walk away.  Instead, he wrapped himself around the detective, like an octopus would wrap around its prey.  He leaned with all his weight against the shorter man.  
  
Juno made an half-hearted attempt to extricate himself from Peter's long limbs before pouting like a five years old, arms crossed over his chest.    
  
Meanwhile, Peter nuzzled Juno, leaving a trail of small kisses along his jaw and neck.  
  
Juno tried to stay angry but he just couldn’t, the thief had a way to just make him melt down.  
  
“Just don’t do anything stupid and please don’t hide whatever you end up picking here.  Also, don’t start with the “Why would you say that darling?” because we’ll still be here two days from now if I start listing everything you already did!”   
  
Peter looked sheepishly at Juno for a moment before flashing him a grin and hugging him closer.  
  
“Well, then my dear detective.  As an act of good faith, I will promise you this: while you can’t stop me-”  
  
“I can stop you, you know.” Juno interjected.  
  
“While you can’t stop me, I promise nothing incriminating will make its way here.”  Peter continued, more amused than annoyed by the interruption.  
  
“Fine. I guess it’s as good as I'll ever get anyways, right?”  
  
Peter nodded.  Juno let out an aggravated sigh.  
  
“What I'm going to do with you, Peter?”  
  
“Same thing you always do Juno, be fondly exasperated.”  
  
“Ah ah, funny.”  Juno looked closer at the badge.  “You’re right though,  I wouldn’t have known it was forged if I didn’t know you.”  
  



	10. Fairy Tale Failure

In which there's no happy ending.

(Rated T Mention of alcohol)

 

***

 

There is no such thing as a fairytale ending. There are monsters chasing you in the sewers, sure. Crazy mobsters and all that jazz, if you are so inclined to die that way. There is no silver laser though, nor silver lining. Thinking any other way will get you kill fast.

Plenty of star-crossed lovers though. Plenty or tears because of that. Like that Earth story of olds, something about two families, both alike in dignity... But hey, it’s another file in Juno’s hands now, another thing filed away in the huge cabinet, locked away and not thought upon too much. It’s just another way to put some money in his pocket. If he can afford the rent on his office and his apartment one more month, if he can pay Rita, then it doesn’t matter how many fairy tale failures he has to go through.

Maybe it would be a bit easier if he hadn’t walked away though if he wasn’t nursing his own fairytale failure through too much work and a cheap bottle of gin.

Peter had offered him galaxies, his heart and the entire world and Juno? He has been too much of a coward and he just walked away. This is probably the single most stupid thing he ever did. This is probably the single thing he regrets the most. Still, he had to go forward; looking back does nobody any good. Right?

Right.

Feelings are messy but at least he can drown his own in alcohol. He knows for a fact that Peter ain't coming back. He knows for a fact that even if Peter did come back, somehow for some reason only known to the thief, he won't be coming back for him.

Sometimes though, when his apartment is too quiet when the bottle of cheap gin is empty and he’s too broke to get more, Juno wishes for a fairy tale ending. He wishes he been strong enough to follow Peter and walk away from this mess. Happily ever after, always outrunning the end of the world, outrunning the end of universes, seeing stars and galaxies he never ever dreamed to see. He could have had it all if only he believed for a moment in those fairy tales endings.

Instead, there’s the cold truth, the simwind howling outside and a sadness of his own making howling inside and not enough alcohol in the galaxy to deal with either of those.

Juno wishes Peter hadn’t been a fool enough to tell him the depth of his feelings for him. Maybe he wouldn’t have run the other way so fast had he not known. Maybe he would have been able to tame his own feelings for the thief. Maybe they could have seen the stars together, countless planets and galaxies.

Instead, it was only him, too sober for his own good, and yet another file. It was another night falling asleep at his desk with the ghosts of things that could have been, another fairy tale failure.

 


	11. Crackle

In which things are better left behind.

(Rated G)

 

***

 

  
Juno looked at the smoke rising up in the Martian sky. It was the thick black plumes of plastic and metal melting and the smell was terrible.  There went the last of his childhood memories, crackling and popping away  in pieces burned down by a barely contained fire    
  
He didn’t feel sentimental about it. Well… If he was honest with himself he did feel sentimental about it.  The place was full of pain, nightmares and broken shards of life. Yet it has always been there as a reminder of everything he stood for, everything he didn’t want to see happen again with the people he gave a damn about.  
  
Sacha was beside him, watching the crackles in the veneer of his carefully built expression.  She knew he been away from this place for a while now,  living in someone room place while he was Academy.  She knew his mother left the house as well years before.  She knew of the foreclosure and the middle-aged woman forced out on the street by booze and her own anger at her sons.  She couldn’t say a thing about any of this though, lest she wanted Juno’s anger to spill through.    
  
The thought burned her mind though.  
  
“You’re not the one who did this,  right?”  
  
“ Nope, wish I had thought of it though.  I guess the owner just wanted the insurance money. He probably can resell the property  for a higher price too without those damn blood covered walls!”    
  
Juno bordered on hysteric.  The veneer cracked and crackled and finally broke off.  It was a wave of sadness and loss that comes over him.  He thought he’d be angrier over this, angrier that he didn’t even think about this.  Maybe he should have been happier, down with the wicked witch and all that.    
  
Instead, it was emptiness he was feeling.  
  
This was a not a chapter of his life but a whole book.  It was rotten and stained with tears and blood but it was also there that, for a short while, he had a small hope.  He had held a small life and took care of it and found his purpose.  It was all gone now, all up in smoke.  He’d never thought he’d miss it until he lost it.  
  
Sacha carefully and gently wraps an arm around him.  She could feel the weight of her friend against her side.  
  
“Juno, are you going to be okay?”   
  
He nodded, looking between her, the firefighters trying to contain the blaze and the plume of smoke drift slowly to nothingness.  
  
“Yeah, I think I’ll be good.  Let’s just get out of Oldtown okay?  I can buy you a drink if you want. Just… you know, stick around for a bit.”

  
Sache smirked and shook her head.  “I’ll buy you one.  But yeah, I do get you Juno,  let's walk out of here.”  She understood that in his awkward ways, he didn’t want to be left alone.  Not just yet.   
  
At least she could keep an eye on him that way, make sure he made it back home safe and sound.  It was the least she could do as a friend after all and she knew it was something Juno could use just now.


	12. Red Turned White

In which there's a zombie apocalypse of sorts.

(Rated T: mention of blood, major character death)

 

***

 

Juno could see the blood, so red against Peter’s skin.  His skin, it was growing paler and paler and Juno could feel it grow colder against his own.  He felt deeply sick, feeling his stomach churning at the sight of so much damn blood.  It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.  They were supposed to be happy,  they were getting there, goddammit!  It was hard, but they were getting there!   
  
“Hang on Nureyev.  After all this, you’re not gonna die this way right?”   
  
Not after all this, not after the train and Miasma and everything else that happened between them.  He just couldn’t.  Juno would stop his blood from running out, from seeping into the dusty ground of some downtown alleyway,  and he would be alive and safe.   
  
But they had been trapped, right?  This stupid place, this stupid plague blazing through the whole of Hyperion City.  They didn’t even know where it started, all they knew was that nowhere was safe.  And it wasn’t even that that was killing Nureyev. Oh no, that would have been too damn easy.   Instead, he has been caught by a stray laser shot right through the guts.  Some trigger-happy idiot who thought they were part of the horde of…  Ah!  Zombies?  He guessed you could call them that way; they did look like zombies from ancient Earth movies.   
  
He could hear the growls coming closer and closer and closer still.  There was no way he could get through the mindless bloodthirsty crowd while carrying Peter to safety.  Peter knew as much too.  He looks up at Juno, smiling a small tired smile.  Juno shook his head, taking his weapon and levelling it at the alleyway entrance.  All he could do was hold unto Peter and just pray that someone would come, even if he knew that they had a ridiculously slim chance of that happening.     
  
“I swear to God Nureyev if you die that goddamn stupid way…”    
  
He just held Peter as close as he could.  He had flashes holding on his brother this way, flashes of trying to protect him from their angry mother.   He felt exactly the same hopeless feeling.  He shook his head and felt like he was just about to collapse unto himself.  God, this couldn’t be happening, not again.   
  
“Juno?”   
  
Juno's eyes went from the wound back to Peter’s face.   
  
“Juno love…  You know I love you.  Just…”    
  
He could see  Peter’s life slip away from him, from the both of them.  He could see the horde getting closer and closer and he had to fire to keep them at bay.   
  
“Sssh, sssh.  Please just…  Nureyev, you don’t get to do this. You can’t do this.  Not after everything“   
  
“... just…  save yourself for me…”   
  
Juno could feel Peter’s last breath leaving his lungs.  He could feel his body go slack in his arms.   
  
“No… Nurey-  Peter, no.”     
  
All Juno could hear was the growl of the horde.  He didn’t know if he could make it.   
  
He didn’t know if he wanted to.   
  



	13. Ghost of you

In which there are shadows of the past.

(Rated G)

 

***

 

Peter is typing as fast as he can,  time is of the essence when you hack big government computers.  His stint at Dark Matter taught him a thing or two, so did  Rita in a way as he watched her searching for information in some unorthodox ways.  That last thought makes his heart hurts a little.  He tries not to think too much about Mars.  He tries not to think too much about who left him behind.     
  
That’s why he was erasing some of the pasts he made for himself.  Scrubbing clean countless servers from the lives of Duke Rose and Rex Glass.  He couldn’t clear everything up, nobody could in this time and age,  but if most of it was gone then he could forget.  He could forget Mars and the empty bed and the coldness he felt deep in his chest as his heart broke.  He could forget how much a certain detective knew and how much it had meant to him.   
  
In the wake of such destruction would come a new persona, a new character to play.  If worlds were all stages upon which to strut, he was the grandest actor of them all.  He knew as such, he could conjure up a new self out of thin air, a new creation to fit his latest crime.  And Juno?  Back on Mars, he would be none the wiser.   
  
He’d been such a fool to think that love could actually mean a thing.  He has been such a fool to have compromised himself in such an intimate way,  A name…  A name meant nothing until you attached feelings to it.  Juno, by any other name, would probably still have been the surely detective that he was.   
  
And Peter?  Peter could never be Peter again, not in Juno’s lifetime at least.    
  
He sighed.  He looked at the screen and pulled off his glasses for a moment.  He rubbed at his bleary eyes.  He never wanted to do any of this.  He wanted Juno to be at his side, going on the adventure of his life.  He wanted to wake up beside this man every morning, kiss him and make him feel worth like…  he had no words for that and he had no time for wishful thinking.  This had come to pass and there was still work to do.   
  
It took some time to go past Rita’s very own encryption.  It was arduous work but it paid off.  All the Juno held on on the computer was erased and by the time it was traced back here, to this particular computer on a small moon library, he’ll be far gone again.  He wanted to leave a note, a small message behind, a thing that would mention that he understood why Juno did this.  He knew full well it was too dangerous and for all the sentimentality it could have displayed, he’d rather still be free as a bird.   
  
He gathered the last of the papers and toss them in a metal bin.  He struck a match and tossed it too.  He watched the smoke rise like it was the ghost of a certain someone he once knew.  He sighed.  Once more he could wander across galaxies.   
  
Once more, Rex, Duke and Peter were no more and to him with this done, so was the ghost of Juno Steel.     



	14. Strays

In which there is love for the strays.

(Rated G )

 

***

 

Half blind once more, dizzy and hurt, Juno wobbled on his feet. This wasn't good... Too much blood... But... He still had to...

"Whoa there, easy."

Darkness encroached Juno's vision. One of the last things he knew was two slim arms around him and the smell of a certain cologne he had missed so much.

The last thing he knew was a pair of strong arms and being lifted up.

"Your hideout hasn't been compromised right?"

He recognized this voice, just like he recognized the smell. He was too tired to care.

 

***

 

Peter brushed some stray strand of hair out of his face, looking at Juno. He has been by his side for a while now, making sure the surly detective stayed alive and didn't accidentally ripped out the IV line in his arm. He watched him breathe evenly in and out, hoping that everything would be fine. It has been too close of a call and it was a good thing Alessandra had been strong enough to lift Juno and that she had a modicum of knowledge in field medicine. Peter on his own would have been hopeless at doing anything.

The light wass dim and warm in the small space, bathing everything in gold colours. The room itself was cold and drafty, but there wasn't much Peter could do about it. Everything looked like it could fall apart around them at any moment. The job wasn't always glamorous, after all. Sometimes it was this, broken and fragile. The rickety chair Peter sat on creaked as he shifted, leaning to run a hand through Juno's hair.

Still, even despite all this, maybe Juno would pull through just out of sheer stubbornness. Lying there, in barely anything but his boxers and covered in scars and patches of gauze, he looked like a mangy feral cat who saw too many fights. He definitely has been as flighty as one.

Back when he was younger. Peter never saw much free cats or birds on Brahma. Just like their human counterpart, they have been shot down with bolts of laser for being too noisy and rowdy. So when he saw, for the first time as a teenager, some tomcats fighting no hold barrels over scraps and some kids betting over which cat will survive, he wondered if Mag had seen him that way. Just a scrappy stray to bet on.

Now, he wondered how many people had done the same to Juno and didn't help him.   
How many people just ended up beating him up with words and fists when things were not going their way? How many, with every new scar made and every word said, just made his skin grow thicker until he felt nothing? How many, looked at his scrappiness in a ratty coat like someone looked at a cat with matted fur worn like an armour and laughed?

How many people thought he would just give up and die?

Yet, in the face of it all, he kept fighting, spitting and screaming at anyone who dared to get too close. Peter had to admire that defiance and resilience.

But...

Peter indulged in a moment of weakness. He had missed Juno so much. He leaned in, just kissing the soft skin of Juno's neck, right under the ear. Had the detective been awake, he would have never even allowed this. Not anymore, at least. Once bitten, twice shy and all that.

Peter wished he had the words to convince Juno that his love was real, that it wasn't him wanting something out of the insufferable man now lying down and barely breathing enough. That every step he took in his direction was not a menace to take with shoulders drawn in, ready for flight or fight.

But thus was the way of the feral ones, thus was the way of those whose heart been hurt too many times to count. He could hope to tame him one day, but never he should take him for granted. He was bound to go away once again.

So there they were, there was all he could do. Take care of him when he was down, let him go again and then hope that the stray will come back home again. It was hurting him to think of it that way, funny in a way when for so long himself had been just another stray. But it was all that he could do in the dim light of a broken home, a home broken in. All he could hope was that it was enough.

 

 


End file.
